


three steps; a run

by Celestos (Seruspica)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 06:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6143842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seruspica/pseuds/Celestos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet based on a request. Originally 'a walk', but when does a walk turn into a run? Yugi x Anzu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	three steps; a run

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by aquaburst07 on tumblr. Originally posted on Fanfiction as part of the 'Trinkets, Treasures and Other Miscellanies' collection.

He thinks it's a little strange that she's not looking back at him like she usually does when she talks; she's three steps ahead and he can hear her still, but the words will get lost in the wind if he loses pace.

She's always waited. She used to tease him, too, about his height and him being slower with the shortness of his legs. He'd laughed with it, too, and then jogged on ahead of her, calling her to catch him. It was childish, even as teenagers, he admits.

He misses those silly occasions as much as he misses the familiar weight of the Puzzle around his neck. Sometimes, he wakes up and waits to hear the voice of his partner again, or at least the reassuring jangle of chains as his hands move and the metal jostles. It's strange, indeed, being this way again, but he knows that he isn't alone. He knows that he never will be.

Anzu is still walking, three steps ahead, almost four. He speeds up his own walk; he knows he can catch up.

It's trivial, this distance. Three steps is enough for anyone, and anyone can close the gap.

He, too, has a gap that needs filling; one he's not spoken of much in the past. Pushed aside and forgotten in the midst of adventures with spirits and sandstorms, he'd left it forgotten. In the depths of chaos, with the fate of the world in his hands, and the Pharaoh's, it had been for the best.

The gap has remained. The storm has blown over, and now he has to face it again. He knows it, and he lets it claw at him.

He could run; he could close the gap and tell her. He could tell her to stop; to stay here with him, and not leave him so many more than three steps away. Her dream is more than a marathon, and he'll never catch her again if she sprints.

Even so, he can see the swish of her hair and the strength in her legs. Her dream is more than a definition of who she is; her dream is a passion that shapes her. He can't let her stay.

Anzu is a woman that goes with the wind, and he's known her for years. He knows that if there's a choice between walking and running, she doesn't go lightly. She has hope in her heart and a future to chase. He knows that. He knows her, and hates himself for it.

Some day, the gap will be filled. He'll forget about her and watch her on stage, with her dream in her arms and the world at her feet. She'll be tired from the run, but her heart will be screaming with glory. He'll see her one day and give her all the congratulations he has; she will some day slow down and walk when she can run no longer, but she'll take a lover's hand then, and she'll walk with the sun in her eyes.

It's beginning to set, and the city shines gold.

Still, there's a faint breeze, and there's light.

And it's before Yugi can gather his thoughts and try to catch up that Anzu turns around, and takes his hand once again, and she tells him to run. She smiles like a child, and he doesn't let go.

When the time comes, the distance increases. Yet with countless miles in between them, on opposite sides of the world, neither one has to chase.

Both let each other be caught.


End file.
